Views of a Lifetime: Fifty Aspects of Pain
by allismine
Summary: Style Epsilon: HidanOC LiveJournal 50 themes project. Hidan finds someone who wants to join his religion. Manga spoilers. Rated T for scattered strong language and graphic violence. Oneshot.


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**Disclaimer:** _"Naruto", and all canon characters and characteristics remain the property and rights of Kishimoto Masashi. All I own is the writing itself, and any original features and / or attributes portrayed within said writing, including the original characters._

**A/N:** My very first attempt at an official canonOC pairing! The challenge was to write a single sentence for each one-word prompt while sticking with the pairing theme; this explains the run-on sentences and general lack of periods. My apologies. :3

I--I

**01 - Motion**  
Gears were set into motion the very moment sharp metal pierced through Yuni's chest, drilling swiftly into her body with a movement her eyes could barely trace.

**02 - Cool**  
The Akatsuki loyalist feels the familiar warmth of blood spill over his tightly gripped hands, the invigorating sensation making him reluctant to finally release his grasp on the cold blade.

**03 - Young**  
The young kunoichi glanced up fearfully, seeing nothing but sadistic gratification in her opponent's eyes as he forced the retractable pike to penetrate through to her other side; the painful outcry which followed echoed unheard for miles around, her final scream pure ecstasy to his ears.

**04 - Last**  
As an impromptu battle between a mediocre Leaf-nin and a highly-skilled runaway, nothing but fate could be blamed for the question of their crossing paths; when the former loses the battle by a landslide, the latter assumes it would be the last he ever saw of that woman.

**05 - Wrong**  
Nearly three years later, Hidan finds that he is wrong.

**06 - Gentle**  
_His swiftness...his grace...that undeniable certainty in his eyes..._

During her incapacitated absence, the survivor had developed an unhealthy obsession with both her near-death defeat and her newfound rival's seemingly infinite strength; their next encounter is anything but gentle as her rage-driven efforts finally find themselves an opportunity for revenge.

**07 - One**  
Hidan curses the fact Kakuzu left him alone that afternoon to collect a bounty from the next village over.

**08 - Thousand**  
At first glance, history seems to repeat itself as the Jashinist easily begins to dominate the second engage, yet Hidan soon discovers that, out of the thousands he's battled in his abnormally prolonged lifetime, this _girl_ is the only one to uncover the secret to his destruction so far.

**09 - King**  
With blood from her torn shoulder dripping from the edge of his scythe, and blood from his scratched cheek lining her kunai, the two Shinobi face their respective opponent from a distance, knowing that they have mastered each other.

**10 - Learn**  
Trying her hardest to suppress the scarlet fluid flowing from her mangled arm, Yuni raises her unwaveringly determined gaze to meet his own, daring to ask her adversary for nothing more than to learn from his faith.

**11 - Blur**  
Hidan froze, lowering his scythe in disbelief when the young woman's unexpected request reached his ears, the suddenly proposed prospect of fulfilling a minor aspiration taking a moment to come into mental focus. _Seriously, how stupid do you think I am, anyway? Where the hell do you get off even asking me for something like that, you godless fucking heathen? Do you think you even deserve salvation after all this shit you've put me through? What are you, fucking crazy?_

**12 - Wait**  
Disregarding the blatant rejection, Yuni goes on to explain that she revered him for his effortless victory three years ago, and that since that day she's waited, refocusing all of her endeavours to one day search him out and prove herself a worthy opponent in his eyes; yet, even years of training, preparation, and repeated analyzations of their last battle only led to match a _physical_ strength--even if she combined his blood with her own and was granted a temporary power over his immortality, she knows that she wouldn't be able to overcome his spirit, and that continuing this battle would simply be prolonging her inevitable demise.

**13 - Change**  
She says she couldn't change herself because her life lacked faith, the very passion of conviction Jashin seemed to empower _his_ soul with all these years; she fiercely claims that if he couldn't help her, he should just save them both the time and effort and kill her off now, because there was nothing else left in this life worth living for.

**14 - Command**  
A sensible air of distrust fell about Hidan's wary light red eyes as he mentally weighed his options: on one hand, he could easily finish off this chick and get her out of his hair forever, but on the other hand, denying a heathen's request to be redeemed went against the very ideologies of his religion...instead, he chooses to remind her that if she does this, she agrees to follow his every command under the penalty of an unblessed death, for there was no turning back once the conversion was complete.

**15 - Hold**  
The key to their simultaneous destruction is released from her hold as the blood-stained kunai clings to the ground.

**16 - Need**  
The kunoichi gave Hidan a respectful bow while he passively agreed to host an initiation somewhere, finding the need to thank him whole-heartedly as he turned his back and walked away; it was the first time he ever heard a suffix of any kind placed at the end of his name.

**17 - Vision**  
Witnessing the Ookamiza cloaked in traditional robes somehow fills Hidan with an undeniable sense of achievement, an odd aura of pride he couldn't seem to shake off--the same as a teacher would feel for his student, or a Father to his child.

**18 - Attention**  
Hidan gave his prospective underling his complete and undivided attention whilst he read from the volumes and blessed her with recited prayers; carefully following his every instruction, Yuni draws her blade and completes the ritual, finally obtaining her mentor's trust as he watches the stark-white garments stain red with her blood.

**19 - Soul**  
Jashinists live out their lives in the belief that their physical state is insignificant, and that the condition of the human soul is the only thing worth protecting: this is why they are expected to brave the masochistic rituals as often as humanly possible; Yuni is amongst the first to see that her Sensei's immortality allows him to push the rituals much further than the norm.

**20 - Picture**  
Somehow, Hidan had pictured his student giving up after suffering the pain of her first ceremony; to his surprise, she endures each ritual without any trace of hesitation or regret.

**21 - Fool**  
When asked why Jashin needed _human_ tributes, Hidan explains that it is their task to save the world from the foolish heathens who reject God's ideals, and who choose to treasure their physical beings moreso than their own souls; it was the only explanation she needed.

**22 - Mad**  
Hidan isn't reluctant to voice his displeasure towards the fact that his student chooses _not_ to abandon her village to join him, but he tells her that she must somehow maintain her monthly sacrifices otherwise.

**23 - Child**  
Hokage Tsunade is somewhat impressed by the young Jounin's sudden interest in assassination missions.

**24 - Now**  
A certain Akatsuki member begins to wonder why his zealot of a teammate now insists on completing his monthly rituals solo; it being a time-consuming burden off his shoulders, he doesn't bother to give it a second thought.

**25 - Shadow**  
The Jashinists make sure to choose a different rendezvous point each time for safety: through snow, sleet, sunshine, and rain, she trained and studied rigorously under his guidance for a few days each month; from that moment on, she became his shadow.

**26 - Goodbye**  
Whenever they bid their farewells, they jokingly promise not to die on the other before they meet again.

**27 - Hide**  
For security reasons, they were forced to keep their newfound alliance hidden from their comrades.

**28 - Fortune**  
It was simply bad luck that it wasn't _all_ they decided to keep hidden.

**29 - Safe**  
The irony of the situation was that keeping their secrets safe from each other unknowingly endangered the condition of their respective lives; Yuni never learned of the Akatsuki's true intentions, and Hidan didn't discover Yuni's secret until it was far too late.

**30 - Ghost**  
In the meantime, though, it was far more than a ghost of a chance that their ties grew into more than just a highly cherished student-teacher relationship; over several months, through the religious mass-sacrifices and ruthless killing sprees, they learned more about each other, appreciating all they were and laughing about the things they should have been.

**31 - Book**  
Amongst the intense scripture readings and multiple pilgrimages to sacred ground, the young woman grew to admire Hidan's passion even moreso than she did at first, and Hidan both respected and treasured his ally's independent enthusiasm in his work.

**32 - Eye**  
To them, any declaration of 'love' unassociated with God was nothing more than a loosely-granted phrase, a meaningless term that was thrown around much too carelessly by the world to be taken seriously anymore; still, every time their eyes met, they were filled with the compassion and reassurance that only lovers knew.

**33 - Never**  
But all disciples of Jashin followed a strict vow of chastity, and there was a certain pride they took in upholding that promise together.

**34 - Sing**  
She hates it with a passion whenever he dares to call her 'kitten', but whenever she retorts by calling him 'choir-boy', he finds it as arguably the most hilarious thing in the world.

**35 - Sudden**  
One day, Kakuzu informs Hidan of a Jinchuuriki that had suddenly made its presence known; it was their job to head towards the outskirts of a remote civilian village and catch up with it later that afternoon.

**36 - Stop**  
Since Hidan was an esteemed member of the legendary Akatsuki Bijuu-hunters, why would he stop to give the mission a second thought?

**37 - Time**  
Time itself seems to freeze as he sees her sitting contemplatively across the field.

**38 - Wash**  
_Fuck, no...it couldn't be._ All hopes of mistaken identity were washed away when a highly-suspicious Kakuzu reminded his teammate that this young woman was the Jinchuuriki they had been searching for; they were to bring her back to headquarters for the extraction of the beast and the immediate disposal of whatever was left behind.

**39 - Torn**  
Hidan instantly found his inner obligations split in two, torn between keeping his loyalties to the responsibilities his organization had entrusted him with and maintaining the devotion he felt toward his unfailing student, his faithful accomplice, his loyal apprentice...his _friend_, for God's sake.

**40 - History**  
Personal history set aside, the fact remained that she contained a Bijuu, a demon whose power could be stolen and controlled to properly maintain God's world; serving Jashin came first before anything in this life, and that ideal was something he accepted long before he ever met _her_.

**41 - Power**  
_The privilege of sending her to Jashin-sama is in my power...and it belongs to me alone._ These words didn't mean as much to the Falls-nin as they were intended, yet the statement's utter resolution was somehow enough to convince Kakuzu to stay behind; the two Akatsuki members may have disliked each other, but they held enough of a grudging respect to know when to stay out of the other's way when it counted most.

**42 - Bother**  
At risk of objection, Hidan didn't bother telling Yuni what it was he was after.

**43 - God**  
He only tells her since Jashin gave her the faith and strength she needed to carry on, her soul was eventually obligated to return the favor; she smiles, grateful, yet sorrowed by the fact that her spirit was free to join God at any given time, unlike her much more worthy master. _It would be an honor to die by your hand, Hidan-sama. I wouldn't have it any other way._

**44 - Wall**  
There was no hint of an objection when she fell blindly into his embrace, no sense of doubt or reluctance as she clung desperately to the back of his cloak and braced herself for the final strike; they fell, kneeling together, Yuni's mental walls and inner defenses crumbling as Hidan took the weapon from behind him and whispered a final blessing in her ear.

**45 - Naked**  
Hidan wasn't remorseful toward the fact that he had to kill her, for reaching the Lord's final embrace was a Jashinist's highest honor; he was only ashamed of the fact that he was forced to save her bared soul under false pretences...he didn't want her to leave this way.

**46 - Drive**  
An inexplicable sense of longing stabbed his heart long before the weapon did; he held her trembling frame close to his own, shut his eyes, and drove the heavy pike through the both of them.

**47 - Harm**  
Blood began trailing down the corners of her flickering smile as her final breath carried his name, her last expression of innocent gratitude torturing his guilt-ridden mind for all eternity.

**48 - Precious**  
He doesn't remember exactly how long he held her lifeless body in his arms, or how long it took before Kakuzu emerged from the sidelines and asked what the hell he thought he was doing.

**49 - Hunger**  
Risking the undeniable immanency of the Akatsuki Leader's wrath, the lone Jashinist flatly refused to attend the following extraction, as he knew he hungered for nothing more than the opportunity to join her; she was the only one who found the power to destroy him, and he knew she held the power to save him as well.

**50 - Believe**  
Whenever he looks tenebrously to the skies and wonders when his spirit will grace the gates of heaven, his mind becomes inspired with the memory of her departed soul, and his heart rises with the belief she'll put in a good word for him up there...the deed was finally done; he had sent his angel home.

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End file.
